Tuesday, June 21, 2011

Honus Wagner: Baseball Hall of Fame Class of 1936

Louisville Colonels: 1897-1899

Pittsburgh Penguins: 1900-1917

Born: February 24, 1874

1895: Wagner's brother, Albert, got Honus into professional baseball. He was discovered the following year.

1897: Wagner joined the Louisville Colonels.

1899: Became the first player to steal second, third, and home in succession. He retired with the NL record for steals of home (since broken).

1899: The Colonels were contracted. Wagner needed a team and joined the Pirates.

1900: Wins his first of eight batting titles.

1903: Plays in the first World Series and hits .222 as Pittsburgh loses to Boston.

1904: Becomes a full time shortstop.

1905: Becomes the first player with his signature on his bat.

1908: Retired, but came back when offered a huge contract.

1908: Wagner has the best year for a Shortstop in history (Bill James claims its the best ever). He hit .354, 10 home runs, 109 RBI, and 53 steals.

1909: Pirates win World Series. Wagner hits .333 with 6 RBI and a .967 OPS outdueling Ty Cobb. He also stole 6 bases.

1909: Honus Wagner baseball card issued by the American Tobacco Company. Wagner did not approve because of the ties to tobacco.

1914: Collects 3000th hit.

1915: Becomes oldest player to hit a Grand Slam (broken by Tony Perez).

1916: Becomes oldest to hit an inside-the-park home run.

1917: Manages Pirates (Record: 1-4)

1917: Retires as NL's all time hit leader (broken by Stan Musial and Pete Rose).

After retirement, Wagner played semi-pro ball.

1928: Ran for Allegheny County Sheriff (Pennsylvania) and lost. (Appointed deputy sheriff in 1942).

1933-1952: Pirates hitting coach

1936: Elected to the Hall of Fame

Wagner ran a sporting goods store which still exists in Pittsburgh.

1944: Became the first honorary coach in All Star history.

1955: Died

1999: All Century Team

2000: USPS issues a Honus Wagner postage stamp.

Accomplishments:

1909 World Champion

8x Batting Champ (1900, 1903, 1904, 1906-09, 1911)

Hit .300 or better 17 consecutive years

.329 career average

1739 runs scored (led league 2x)

3420 hits (led league 2x)

643 doubles (led league 7x)

252 triples (led league 3x)

101 Home runs

1733 RBI (led league 5x)

100+ RBI: 9x

723 stolen bases (led league 5x)

40+ steals: 8x

50+ steals: 5x

963 walks and only 734 strikeouts

.391 OBP (led league 4x)

.467 SLG (led league 6x)

.858 OPS (led league 8x)

Career Postseason: .275, 0 HR, 9 RBI, 9 SB in 15 Games

From his official site: "Wagner retired with more hits, runs, RBI, doubles, triples, games and steals than any other National League player."

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